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Richard  Barksdale  Harwell 


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'•',.  :•  '      e-C~f3!        '--  ' 

''^-•fy-:-'^^ 


REFUTATION  OF  TEE  CHARGES 


MADE    AGAINST 


OF    HAVING    AUTHORIZED    THE    USE   OF 

EXPLOSIVE  AND  POISONED  MUSKET  AND  EIFLE  BALLS 
DURING  THE  LATE  CIVIL  WAE  OF  1861-65. 


BY 


REV.  HORACE  EDWIN  HAYDEN, 


Member  of  the  Southern  Historical  Society  and  the  Historical  Society  of  Pcnnsvlva 
Corresponding  Member  of  the  New  England  Historical  and  Genealogical 
Society,  the  Historical  Society  of  Virginia,  Ac.,  Ac.,  Ac. 


Richmond,  Fa.: 

Geo.  W.  Gary,  Printer  and  Binder. 
1879. 


9*7  "a. 


EXPLOSIVE  AND  POISONED  MUSKET  AND 
RIFLE  BALLS. 


The  following  remarkable  statement  occurs  as  a  note  to  the 
account  of  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  on  page  78,  volume  III,  of 
"The  Pictorial  History  of  the  Civil  War  in  the  United  States  of 
America,  by  Benson  J.  Lossing,  LL.  D.": 

Many,  mostly  young  men,  were  maimed  in  every  conceivable 
way,  by  every  kind  of  weapon  and  missile,  the  most  fiendish  of 
which  was  an  explosive  and  a  poisoned  bullet,  represented  in  the 
engraving  a  little  more  than  half  the  size  of  the  originals,  procured 
from  the  battlefield  there  by  the  writer.  These  were  sent  by  the  Con- 
federates. Whether  any  were  ever  used  by  the  Nationals,  the  writer  is  not 
informed.  One  was  made  to  explode  in  the  body  of  the  man,  and 
the  other  to  leave  a  deadly  poison  in  him,  whether  the  bullet  lodged 
in  or  passed  through  him. 

Figure  A  represents  the  explosive  bullet.  The  perpendicular 
stem,  with  a  piece  of  thin  copper  hollowed,  and  a  head  over  it  of 
bullet  metal,  fitted  a  cavity  in  the  bullet  proper  below  it,  as  seen 
in  the  engraving.  In  the  b<  ttom  of  the  cavity  was  fulminating 
powder.  When  the  bullet  struck,  the  momentum  would  cause  the 
copper  in  the  outer  disc  to  flatten,  and  allow  the  point  of  the  stem 
to  strike  and  explode  the  fulminating  powder,  when  the  bullet 
would  be  rent  into  fragments  which  would  lacerate  the  victim. 

In  figure  B  the  bullet  proper  was  hollowed,  into  which  was 
inserted  another,  also  hollow,  containing  poison.  The  latter  being 
loose,  would  slip  out  and  remain  in  the  victim's  body  or  limbs 
with  its  freight  of  poison  if  the  bullet  proper  should  pass  through. 
Among  the  Confederate  wounded  at  the  College  were  boys  of  tender 
age  and  men  who  had  been  forced  into  the  ranks  against  their  will. 

The  italics  I  am  responsible  for.  It  is  difficult  for  those  who 
live  at  the  South  to  realize  how  extensively  such  insinuating  slan- 
ders as  the  above  against  the  Confederates  are  credited  at  the 
North,  even  by  reading  people. 

•v  I  purpose  in  this  paper  to  examine  the  statement  of  the  author 

of  this  Pictorial  History,  and  to  show,  by  indisputable  proof,  its 
recklessness  and  its  falsity.  In  the  above  quotation,  he  states  that 
he  had  picked  up,  on  the  battlefield  of  Gettysburg,  an  explosive  and 

^  a  poisoned  ball.  "These,"  he  adds,  "were  sent  by  the  Confederates. 
Whether  any  were  ever  used  by  the  Nationals,  the  writer  is  not  informed." 

^        I  do  not  desire  to  be  severe  beyond  justice;  but  it  does  seem  that 


ns  no  one  ventured  to  inform  him  to  the  contrary,  this  author 
accepted  the  silence  of  the  world  and  deliberately  put  into  print 
this  slander  against  the  Confederates  without  having  made  any 
apparent  effort  to  learn,  as  he  could  have  done  with  ease,  whether 
his  statement  had  any  basis  of  truth. 

It  is  with  entire  confidence  in  the  facts  presented  in  this  paper 
that  I  deny  this  author's  statement,  above,  to  be  a  statement  of  fact. 
I  do  more  than  this — 

I.  1  most  emphatically  deny  thtit  the  Confederate  States  ever  authorized 
the  ute  of  explosive  or  poisoned  musket  or  rifle  balls. 

II.  I  most  emphatically  assert  that  the  United  States  did  pur- 
chase, authorize,  issue  and  use  explosive  musket  or  rifle  balls  during  the 
late  civil  war,  and  that  they  were  thus  officially  authorized  and 
used  at  the  battle  of  Gettysburg. 

It  happened  in  1864,  the  day  after  the  negro  troops  made  their 
desperate  and  drunken  charge  on  the  Confederate  lines  to  the  left 
of  Chaffin's  farm  and  were  so  signally  repulsed,  that  the  writer,  who 
was  located  in  the  trenches  a  mile  still  further  to  the  left,  picked 
up,  in  the  field  outside  the  trenches  assailed  by  the  negroes,  some 
of  the  cartridges  these  poor  black  victims  had  dropped,  containing 
the  very  "explosive"  ball  described  in  the  above  quotation  and 
charged  to  the  Confederates.  I  have  preserved  one  of  these  balls 
ever  since.  It  lies  before  me  as  I  write.  It  is  similar  to  figure  A, 
and  with  a  zinc  and  not  a  copper  disc.  It  never  contained  any  fulmi- 
nating powder.  The  construction  of  the  ball  led  me  to  make  inves- 
tigations to  ascertain  its  purpose.  At  first,  I  thought  it  might  be 
made  to  leave  in  the  body  of  the  person  struck  by  it  three  pieces 
of  metal,  instead  of  one,  to  irritate,  and  possibly  destroy  lifp.  But 
this  theory  appeared  to  me  so  "fiendish"  that  I  was  unwilling  to 
accept  it,  and  I  became  convinced,  after  more  careful  examination, 
that  the  purpose  of  the  ball  was  to  increase  the  momentum,  by 
forcing  in  the  cap  and  expanding  the  disc  so  as  to  fill  up  the 
grooves  of  the  rifle.  The  correctness  of  this  view  will  be  proven 
in  this  paper. 

In  the  first  place,  although  the  charge  made  by  the  author  of 
the  Pictorial  History  of  the  Civil  War  against  the  Confederates  of 
having  used  explosive  and  poisoned  balls,  has  been  made  before, 
and  often  repeated  since,  it  has  never  been  supported  by  one  grain 
of  proof.  How  did  this  author  ascertain  that  the  balls  he  picked 
up  on  the  battlefield  of  Gettysburg  were  sent  by  the  Confederates? 
How  did  he  learn  that  one  wad  an  explosive  and  the  other  a  poisoned 


projectile?  Did  he  test  the  explosive  power  of  the  one  and  the- 
poisonous  character  of  the  other?  He  gives  no  evidence  of  having 
done  so,  and  advances  no  proof  of  his  assertions. 

It  is  a  very  remarkable  fact  that  no  case  was  ever  reported  in 
Northern  hospitals,  or  by  Northern  surgeons,  of  Union  soldiers 
having  been  wounded  by  such  barbarous  missiles  as  these  from  the 
Confederate  side. 

I  have  very  carefully  examined  those  valuable  quarto  volumes 
issued  by  the  United  States  Medical  Department  and  entitled  "The 
Medical  and  Surgical  History  of  the  Rebellion,"  and  as  yet  have 
failed  to  find  any  case  of  wound  or  death  reported  as  having 
occurred  by  an  explosive  or  poisoned  musket  ball,  excepting  that 
on  pnge  91  of  volume  II  of  said  work  there  is  a  table  of  four  thou- 
sand and  two  (4,002)  cases  of  gunshot  wounds  of  the  scalp,  two  (2) 
of  which  occurred  by  explosive  musket  balls.  To  which  army  these 
two  belonged  does  not  appear. 

A  letter  addressed  to  the  Surgeon-General  of  the  United  States 
by  the  writer  on  this  subject,  has  elicited  the  reply  that  the  Medi- 
cal Department  is  without  any  information  as  to  wounds  by  such 
missiles.  I  do  not  find  such  projectiles  noticed  as  preserved  in  the 
museum  of  the  Surgeon-General's  Department,  where  rifle  projec- 
tiles taken  from  wounds  are  usually  deposited. 

In  the  second  place,  the  manufacture,  purchase,  issue  or  use  of 
such  projectiles  for  firearms  by  the  Confederate  States,  is  positively 
denied  by  the  Confederate  authorities,  as  the  following  corre- 
spondence will  show  : 

i  Miss.,  28th  June,  1879. 


My  Dear  Sir  —  ...  In  reply  to  your  inquiries  as  to  the  use 
of  explosive  or  poisoned  balls  by  the  troops  of  the  Confederate 
States,  I  state  as  positively  as  one  may  in  such  a  case  thnt  the 
charge  has  no  foundation  in  truth.  Our  Government  certainly  did 
not  manufacture  or  import  such  balls,  and  if  any  were  captured 
from  the  enemy,  they  could  probably  only  have  been  used  in  the 
captured  arms  for  which  they  were  suited.  I  heard  occasionally 
that  the  enemy  did  use  explosive  balls,  and  others  prepared  so  as 
to  leave  a  copper  ring  in  the  wound,  but  it  was  always  spoken  of 
as  an  atrocity  beneath  knighthood  and  abhorrent  to  civilization. 
The  slander  is  only  one  of  many  instances  in  which  our  enemy 
have  committed  or  attempted  crimes  of  which  our  people  and  their 
Government  were  incapable,  and  then  magnified  the  guilt  by  ac- 
cusing us  of  the  offences  they  had  committed,  .... 
Believe  me,  ever  faithfully  yours, 

JEFFERSON  DAVIS. 


6 

General  Josiah  Gorgas,  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  of  the  Confede- 
rate States — now  of  the  University  of  Alabama — writes,  under  date 
of  July  llth,  1879.  that  to  his  "knowledge  the  Confederate  States 
never  authorized  or  used  explosive  or  poisoned  rifle  halls  during 
the  late  war."  In  this  statement  also  General  I.  M.  St.  John  and 
General  John  Ellicott,  both  of  the  Ordnance  Bureau,  Confederate 
States  army,  entirely  concur. 

The  Adjutant-General  of  the  United  States  also  writes  me,  under 
date  of  August  22d,  1879,  as  to  the  Confederate  archives  now  in 
the  possession  of  the  National  Government,  as  follows:  "In  reply 
to  yours  of  the  18th  August,  I  have  the  honor  to  inform  you  that 
the  Confederate  States  records  in  the  possession  of  this  Department 
furnish  no  evidence  that  poisoned  or  explosive  musket  balls  were 
used  by  the  army  of  the  Confederate  States." 

Rev.  J.  William  Jones,  D.  D.,  Secretary  of  the  Southern  Histori- 
cal Society,  has  written  me  to  the  same  effect  as  to  the  archives  in 
the  possession  of  the  Society. 

In  the  third  place,  a  brief  examination  of  the  United  States 
Patent  Office  Reports  for  1862-3,  and  the  Ordnance  Reports  for 
1863-4,  will  show  that  the  "explosive  and  the  poisoned  ball*"  which 
the  author  of  the  "Pictorial  History  of  the  Civil  War"  so  gratuit- 
ously charges  upon  the  Confederates,  were  patented  by  the  United 
States  Patent  Office  at  Washington,  and  were  purchased,  issued  and 
used  by  the  United  States  Government,  and,  what  is  still  more  re- 
markable, that  neither  of  the  aforesaid  projectiles  were  in  any  sense 
explosive  or  poisoned. 

In  the  Patent  Office  Report  for  1862-3  will  be  found  the  follow- 
.ing,  with  the  corresponding  illustration  in  the  second  volume: 

No.  37,145— Elijah  D.  Williams,  of  Philadelphia,  Pennsylvania— 
Improvement  in  Elongated  Bullets — Patent  dated  December  9,  1862. 

This  invention  consists  in  the  combination  with  an  elongated  ex- 
panding bullet  of  a  leaded  pin  and  a  concave  expanding  disc,  the 
disc  having  its  concave  side  against  the  base  of  the  bullet,  and  the 
pin  entering  the  cavity  thereof  and  operating  to  produce  the  flat- 
tening of  the  disc,  by  which  it  is  caused  to  expand  against  the  walls 
of  and  enter  the  groves  of  the  gun. 

Claim — First,  the  combination  with  elongated  expanding  bullets 
of  a  pin,  C,  and  expanding  disc,  B,  applied  substantially  as  herein 
specified.  Second,  fitting  the  pin  to  the  cavity  of  the  bullet  in  the 
manner  substantially  as  herein  specified,  whereby  the  expansion 
of  the  bullet  is  caused  to  commence  in  the  front  part  of  its  expand- 
ing portion  and  to  be  gradually  continued  toward  the  rear  as  herein 
«et  forth. 


So  much  for  the  explosive  ball  "sent  by  the  Confederates." 
In  the  same  volume  of  the  Patent  Office  Reports  will  be  found 
also  the  following: 

No.  36,197— Ira  W.  Shaler,  of  Brooklyn,  New  York,  and  Reuben 
Shaler,  of  Madison,  Connecticut,  assigned  to  Ira  \V.  Shaler  afore- 
said— Improvement  in  Compound  Bullet  for  Small  Arms — Patent  dated 
August  12,  1862. 

This  projectile  is  composed  of  two  or  more  parts  which  fit  the 
bore  of  the  barrel  and  so  constructed  that  the  forward  end  of  each 
of  the  parts  in  the  rear  of  the  front  one  enters  a  cavity  in  the  rear 
of  the  one  before  it,  and  is  formed  in  relation  to  the  same  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  separate  from  it  after  leaving  the  barrel  of  the  gun 
and  make  a  slight  deviation  in  its  line  of  flight  from  that  of  its 
predecessor. 

Claim — The  projectile  hereinbefore  described,  made  up  of  two 
or  more  parts,  each  of  equal  diameter,  constructed  as  set  forth  so 
as  to  separate  from  each  other. 

No  illustration  of  this  projectile  appears  in  the  illustrated  vol- 
ume of  patents;  but  an  official  drawing  of  it  from  the  Patent 
Office  lies  before  me.  The  ball  is  slightly  different  from  figure  B 
(supra),  in  that  it  is  here  perfect,  and  figure  B  gives  but  two  parts 
of  the  missile. 

So  much  for  the  poisoned  ball  "  sent  by  tlw  Confederates." 

Any  person  ought  to  "know  perfectly  well  that  it  was  not  neces- 
sary to  invent  or  construct  a  rifle  ball  especially  adapted  to  carry 
poison,  when  the  common  minnie  ball  itself,  dipped  into  liquid 
poison  and  coated,  as  ball  cartridges  are  usually  finished,  with  wax 
or  tallow,  would  have  effected  the  same  purpose. 

To  what  extent  the  bullets  of  Williams  and  Shaler  were  used 
during  the  late  war  by  the  United  States  troops,  the  following  offi- 
cial communication  from  the  War  Department  at  Washington, 
under  date  of  September  16,  1879,  will  show : 

Sir— In  reply  to  your  letter  of  the  9th  instant  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  I  have  to  inform  you  that  during  the  late  war  a  great 
many  of  the  bullets  patented  by  Elijah  D.  Williams  and  about 
200,000  of  those  patented  by  Ira  W.  Shaler  were  used  by  the 
United  States. 

Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

S.  C.  LYFORD,  Acting  Chief  of  Ordnance. 

In  the  fourth  place,  in  repelling  and  refuting  the  charge  against 
the  Confederates  of  having  used  explosive  musket  or  rifle  projec- 
tiles, I  charge  the  United  States  Government  with  not  only  patent- 


8 

ing,  but  purchasing  and  using,  especially  at  the  battle  of  Gettys- 
burg, an  explosive  musket  shell;  nor  do  I  trust  to  my  imagination, 
but  I  present  the  facts,  which  are  as  follows : 

In  April,  1862,  the  Commissioner  of  Public  Buildings  at  Wash- 
ington brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  War — 
then  Mr.  John  Tucker — the  explosive  musket  shell  invented  by 
Samuel  Gardiner,  jr.  The  Assistant  Secretary  at  once  referred  the 
matter  to  General  James  W.  Ripley,  who  was  then  the  Chief  of  the 
Ordnance  Bureau  at  Washington.  What  action  was  taken  will 
appear  when  it  is  stated  that  in  May,  1862,  the  Chief  of  Ordnance 
at  the  West  Point  Military  Academy  made  a  report  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  a  trial  of  the  Gardiner  musket  shell.  In  May,  1862,  Mr. 
Gardiner  offered  to  sell  some  of  his  explosive  musket  shells  to  the 
Government  at  a  stipulated  price.  His  application  was  referred  to 
General  Ripley  with  the  following  endorsement: 

Will  General  Ripley  consider  whether  this  explosive  shell  will 
be  a  valuable  missile  in  battle? 

A.  LINCOLN. 

General  Ripley  replied  that  "it  had  no  value  as  a  service  pro- 
jectile." 

In  June,  1862,  Brigadier-General  Rufus  King,  at  Fredericksburg, 
made  a  requisition  for  some  of  the  Gardiner  musket  shells.  On 
referring  this  application  to  the  Chief  of  Ordnance,  General  Ripley, 
that  old  army  officer,  whose  sense  of  right  must  have  been  shocked 
at  this  instance  of  barbarism,  a  second  time  recorded  his  disap- 
proval, replying  that  "it  was  not  advisable  to  furnish  any  such 
missiles  to  the  troops  at  present  in  service." 

In  September,  1862,  the  Chief  of  Ordnance  of  the  Eleventh 
corps,  United  States  army,  recommended  the  shell  to  the  Assistant 
Secretary  of  War,  who  ordered  10,000  rounds  to  be  purchased — 
made  into  cartridges.  Of  this  number,  200  were  issued  to  Mr. 
Gardiner  for  trial  by  the  Eleventh  corps.  In  October,  1862,  the 
Chief  of  Ordnance  of  the  Eleventh  corps,  then  in  reserve  near 
Fairfax  Courthouse,  sent  in  a  requisition,  endorsed  by  the  General 
commanding  the  corps,  for  20,000  Gardiner  musket  shells  and  car- 
tridges. The  Assistant  Secretary  of  War  referred  the  matter  to  the- 
Chief  of  Ordnance,  General  Ripley,  who  for  the  third  time  recorded 
his  disapproval  of  such  issue.  Nevertheless,  the  Assistant  Secre- 
tary of  War  ordered  the  issue  to  be  made  to  the  Eleventh  corps  of 
the  remaining  9,800  shells  and  cartridges,  which  order  was  obeyed. 


& 

In  November,  1862,  Mr.  Gardiner  offered  to  sell  to  the  United' 

States  his  explosive  musket  shell  and  cartridge  at  $35  per  thousand,. 

calibre  58.    The  Assistant  Secretary  of  War  at  once  ordered  100,- 

.    000,  of  which  75,000  were  calibre  58  for  infantry,  and  25,000  calibre 

54  for  cavalry  service. 

In  June,  1863,  the  Second  New  Hampshire  volunteers  made  a 
requisition  for  35,000  of  these  shells,  and  by  order  of  the  Assistant 
Secretary  of  War,  they  received  24,000.  Of  this  number,  10,060 
were  abandoned  in  Virginia  and  13,940  distributed  to  the  regiment: 
The  report  of  this  regiment,  made  subsequently,  shows  that  in  the 
third  quarter  of  1863 — that  is,  from  July  1st  to  October  1st — about 
4,000  of  these  shells  were  used  in  trials  and  target  firing,  and  about 
10,000'were  used  in  action.  The  Second  New  Hampshire  regiment 
was  iu  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  49  of  its  members  lie  buried 
in  the  cemetery  there. 

The  above  statement  shows  that  the  Assistant  Secretary  of  War,. 
against  what  might  be  regarded  as  the  protest  of  the  Chief  of  Ord- 
nance, purchased  110,000  of  the  Gardiner  explosive  musket  shells, 
and  issued  to  the  troops  in  actual  service  35,000,  leaving  75,000  on 
hand  at  the  close  of  the  war. 

In  1866  the  Russian  Government  issued  a  circular  calling  a  con- 
vention of  the  Nations  for  the  purpose  of  declaring  against  the  use 
of  explosive  projectiles  in  war.  To  this  circular  the  then  Chief  of 
Ordnance  of  the  United  States,  General  A.  B.  Dyer,  made  the  fol- 
lowing reply,  which  I  have  but  little  doubt  expresses  the  sentiment 
which  actuated  General  Ripley  in  his  disapproval  of  the  purchase 
and  issue  of  the  Gardiner  musket  shell : 

OKDNANCE  OFFICE,  WAR  DEPARTMENT, 
WASHINGTON,  August  19,  IStiS. 

- 
Hon.  J.  M.  SCHOFIELD,  Secretary  of  War: 

Sir — I  have  read  the  communication  from  the  Russian  Min- 
ister in  relation  to  the  abolishment  of  the  use  of  explosive  projec- 
tiles in  military  warfare,  with  the  attention  and  care  it  well  de- 
serves. 

I  concur  heartily  in  the  sentiments  therein  expressed,  and  I 
trust  that  our  Government  will  respond  unhesitatingly  to  the 
proposition  in  behalf  of  humanity  and  civilization.  The  use  in 
warfare  of  explosive  balls,  so  sensitive  as  to  ignite  and  burst  on 
striking  a  substance  as  soft  and  yielding  as  animal  flesh  (of  men 
or  horses),  I  consider  barbarous  and  no  more  to  be  tolerated  by  civil- 
ized nations  than  the  universally  reprobated  practice  of  using 
poisoned  missiles,  or  of  poisoning  food  or  drink  to  be  left  in  the 


• 

10 

"way  of  an  enemy.  Such  a  practice  is  inexcusable  among  any 
people  above  the  grade  of  ignorant  savages.  Neither  do  I  regard 
the  use  in  war  of  such  explosive  balls  as  of  any  public  advantage, 
but  rather  the  reverse ;  for  it  will  have  the  effect  of  killing  out- 
right, rather  than  wounding,  and  it  is  known  that  the  care  of 
wounded  men  much  more  embarrasses  the  future  operations  of 
the  enemy  than  the  loss  of  the  same  number  killed,  who  require 
no  further  attention  which  may  delay  or  impede  them. 

There  is  a  class  of  explosive  projectiles  now  used,  the  discon- 
tinuance of  which  is  not  demanded  by  humanity,  and  the  use  of 
which  may  be  considered  legitimate.  These  are  the  projectiles 
which  can  only  be  exploded  by  contact  with  hard,  resisting  sub- 
stances, and  which  are  generally  used  for  destroying  ships,  caissons, 
or  light  fortifications,  and  not  directly  against  men  or  animals  in 
the  opposing  ranks.  These  Latter  ought  not  and  probably  cannot 
be  included  in  an  agreement  or  treaty  to  prohibit  their  use  in  war- 
fare; but  I  strongly  advocate  an  agreement  or  treaty  binding  all 
•civilized  nations  to  discontinue  and  forever  abandon  the  use  in 
war  of  that  class  of  missiles  or  projectiles  which  may  be  used  in 
small  arms  and  be  so  sensitive  as  to  explode  on  contact  with  animal 
flesh. 

'  The  papers  in  the  case,  received  through  the  State  and  War 

Departments,  are  herewith  returned. 

In  this  connection,  I  also  notice  a  letter  from  the  Hon.  C.  M. 
Clay,  our  Minister  to  Russia,  which  has  been  referred  to  this  office 
and  herewith  returned,  and  on  which  I  have  to  report.  If  the 
civilized  nations  persist  in  refusing  to  discontinue  and  abandon  the 
use  of  sensitive  explosive  balls,  then  it  would  be  well  for  this  Gov- 
ernment to  enter  into  the  agreement  suggested  by  Mr.  Clay,  where- 
by we  may  be  enabled  to  secure  their  use  in  case  of  necessity,  by  an 
agreement  with  him,  or  his  named  authorized  agent,  for  the  pay- 
ment of  a  stipulated  royalty  on  each  that  may  be  procured  from 
him,  or  may  be  used  in  the  Government  service. 
Respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

A.  B.  DYER, 
Brevet  Major- General,  Chief  of  Ordnance. 

I  have  recorded  enough  to  show  the  recklessness  and  falsity  of 
the  charge  against  the  Confederates  of  using  such  missiles  in  small 
arms  during  the  late  war,  and  the  public  is  hereby  specifically 
"informed  whether  the  Nationals  ever  used  them." 

In  the  Patent  Office  Report  for  1863-4  will  be  found  the  follow- 
ing account  of  the  Gardiner  musket  shell: 

No.  40,468 — Samuel  Gardiner,  jr.,  of  New  York,  N.  Y. — Improve- 
ment in  Hollow  Projectiles — Patent  dated  November  .°i,  1863. 

The  shell  to  form  the  central  chamber  is  attached  to  a  mandrel, 
and  the  metal  forced  into  a  mould  around  it. 

Claim — Constructing  shells  for  firearms  by  forcing  the  metal  into 
•a  mould  around  an  internal  shell  supported  on  a  mandrel. 


11 

I  have  a  box  of  these  shells  in  my  possession.  They  are  open 
for  examination  by  any  persons  who  may  desire  to  see  them. 

This  summer  the  distinguished  officer  who  commanded  the  143d 
regiment  of  Pennsylvania  volunteers,  United  States  arm}'-,  at  the 
battle  of  Gettysburg,  informed  me  that  during  the  last  day  of  the 
battle,  he  and  his  men  frequently  heard,  above  their  heads,  amid 
the  whistling  of  the  minnie  balls  from  the  Confederate  side,  sharp, 
•explosive  sounds  like  the  snapping  of  musket  caps.  He  men- 
tioned the  matter  to  an  ordnance  officer  at  the  time.  The  officer 
replied  that  what  he  heard  was  explosive  rifle  balls,  which  the  Con- 
federates had  captured  from  the  Union  troops,  who  had  lately  re- 
ceived them  from  the  Ordnance  Department. 

From  the  fact  that  the  Gardiner  shell  is  not  fitted  with  a  percus- 
sion cap  at  the  point  of  the  projectile,  and  is  not  easily  exploded 
by  hand,  and  from  the  additional  fact  that  only  about  ten  thou- 
sand are  reported  as  having  been  used  in  action,  I  am  willing  to 
believe  that  the  primary  purpose  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  in  using  them  was  the  exploding  of  caissons.  There  is, 
moreover,  no  evidence  that  any  of  these  shells  were  issued  from 
the  Ordnance  Bureau  after  the  year  1863.  The  Gardiner  shells  are 
so  constructed  as  to  have  no  different  appearance  in  the  cartridge 
from  the  common  minnie  ball — only  the  title  on  the  box,  and  an 
examination  of  the  ball  when  separate  from  the  cartridge,  giving 
any  indication  of  its  explosive  character. 

I  know  not  certainly  if  any  other  such  projectiles  were  used  by 
the  United  States  troops,  nor  have  I  any  especial  desire  to  prose- 
cute the  investigation  further  than  to  prove  the  position  taken  in 
this  paper. 

It  would  be  disingenuous  in  me  if  I  failed  to  notice  the  fact  that 
a  charge  somewhat  similar  to  that  which  begins  this  article  was 
made  by  a  correspondent  in  the  Scientific  American  for  September 
6th,  1SG2,  volume  VII,  page  151,  as  follows: 

Recently  it  was  my  privilege  to  examine,  in  the  hands  of  a  man 
just  from  Fortress  Monroe,  an  explosive  bullet,  such  as  was  used 
by  the  Rebels  in  the  six  days'  battle.  It  is  conical  in  shape,  about 
one  inch  long,  made  of  lead,  and  consists  of  two  parts — viz:  a 
solid  head  piece  and  a  cylindrical  chamber,  which  are  united  to- 
gether by  a  screw.  From  the  point  of  the  bullet  projects  a  little 
rod,  which  passes  down  through  a  small  hole  in  the  head  piece 
into  the  chamber  below,  where  it  was  connected  with  a  percussion 
cap.  The  chamber  contains  about  a  tables poonful  of  powder. 
You  can  readily  perceive  that  if  the  bullet  should  encounter  a 


UNIVERSITY  OF 
IttlNOIS  LIBRARY 


12 

bone  or  other  hard  substance  when  entering  a  man's  body,  it  will 
explode  and  thereby  produce  a  fatal  wound. 

F.  J.  C. 
PHILADELPHIA,  August  23, 1862. 

In  the  Patent  Office  Report  (United  States)  for  1863-4  will  be 
found  a  shell  exactly  corresponding  to  this  one: 

No.  39,593— Joseph  Nottingham  Smith,  New  York,  N.  Y.— Im- 
provement in  Elongated  Projectile  for  Firearms — Patent  dated  August 
18,  1863. 

It  consists  of  an  elongated  cylinder  having  a  charge  chamber  in 
its  rear  portion,  which  contains  powder  for  propulsion.  The  point 
is  a  pointed  axical  bolt,  whose  rear  is  furnished  with  a  percussion 
cap,  to  be  exploded  by  the  forward  motion  of  a  striker  on  the  con- 
cussion of  the  projectile. 

Not  having  seen  this  ball,  I  cannot  certainly  identify  it  with  the 
ball  mentioned  by  F.  J.  C.,  but  it  is  evidently  the  same. 

The  inference  is  very  natural  that  if  these  several  projectiles,, 
patented  by  the  United  States  Patent  Office,  as  the  invention  of 
Northern  men,  during  the  war,  and  used  by  the  United  States 
armies,  were  ever  used  by  the  Confederates,  it  was  only  as  captured 
ammunition.  It  was  hardly  possible,  at  any  reasonable  cost,  to 
run  them  through  the  blockade  to  the  South. 

In  conclusion,  it  may  be  well  to  draw  attention  to  Mr.  LossingV 
intimation  in  the  note  quoted  at  the  beginning  of  this  paper,  that 
the  men  of  the  South  were  forced  into  the  Confederate  ranks 
against  their  will,  while  those  of  the  North  were  volunteers.  Does 
Mr.  Lossing  purposely  forget  the  United  States  drafts  made  to  fill' 
up  the  depleted  regiments  in  the  field,  and  especially  the  draft  of 
May,  1863,  two  months  before  the  battle  of  Gettysburg,  and  the 
riots  that  occurred  in  New  York  city  as  the  result  of  that  draft?' 
Does  he  purposely  forget  that  the  United  States  established  recruit- 
ing offices  in  Europe  to  procure  men  for  her  armies? 

It  may  be  questioned  whether  as  a  historian  Mr.  Lossing  is  de- 
serving even  the  notice  of  a  novice  in  history ;  for,  while  he  is~ 
known  to  be  a  voluminous  writer  of  American  history,  he  is  also 
known  to  be  a  writer  of  many  and  great  inaccuracies.  A  writer 
who  has  allowed  himself  to  be  so  easily  imposed  upon  as  in  hi* 
read)'  acceptance  as  true  history  of  the  Morgan  Jones  Welsh  Indian 
fraud  (American  Historical  Record,  I,  250);  who  makes  such 
glaring  historical  mistakes  as  his  statement  that  General  Braddock 
was  defeated  and  killed  at  the  "battle  of  the  Great  Meadows" 


13 

(History  of  the  Revolutionary  War),  and  that  Captain  John  Smith, 
the  Virginia  explorer",  had  explored  the  Susquehanna  river  as  far 
north  as  the  Wyoming  Valley  (Harper's  Magazine,  November, 
1860),  and  who  draws  so  largely  on  bis  imagination,  and  is  so 
much  controlled  by  his  prejudices  in  his  "History  of  the  Civil 
War,"  cannot  be  considered  an  entirely  trustworthy  historian. 
But  because  Mr.  Lossing's  histories  have  flooded  the  North,  and 
are  largely  accepted  as  authentic  narrations  of  events,  it  is  due  to 
the  Confederates  and  the  cause  for  which  they  so  long  and  nobly 
battled,  against  such  fearful  odds,  that  the  truth  be  made  known 
and  Mr.  Lossing's  misstatements  exposed. 

It  is  earnestly  to  be  hoped  that  the  facts  presented  in  this  paper 
will  forever  set  at  rest  the  malicious  slander  so  often  repeated 
against  the  Confederates,  by  many  who  are  so  willing  to  believe 
anything  against  them,  of  having  authorized  the  use  in  military 
warfare  of  such  atrocious  and  barbarous  missiles  as  "explosive  and 
poisoned  "  musket  or  rifle  balls. 

H.  E.  H. 

BROWNSVILLE,  PAn  September  1, 1879. 


